Controlling hyperglycemia and inflammation in type 2 diabetes (T2D) remains an important approach to control diabetes. The use of phytochemicals found in natural herbs has been investigated widely, and there are inconsistent findings in clinical trials, likely associated with a small sample size. A meta-analysis of clinical trials was performed by conducting a comprehensive literature search on PubMed, Scopus, EBSCOHost, and Web of Sciences.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) is a measurement for subclinical atherosclerosis and has been associated with overall cardiovascular diseases, especially in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). We aimed to assess the status of carotid health and lipid profile in T2DM.
Design: This systematic review and meta-analysis synthesised data published from clinical studies.
Background: Language plays a critical role in health communication, particularly in the management and understanding of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) among elderly populations. This study aimed to explore the language barriers that affect elderly participants' comprehension of NCDs, focusing on how these barriers impact their understanding of disease causes, symptoms, treatment, and self-management. The study also investigated how linguistic differences between healthcare workers and patients influence the effectiveness of health interventions in a rural South African context.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the major cause of vision impairment or blindness in individuals who have diabetes. It has accounted for 2.6% of all cases of blindness, and 1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Central obesity in children is a global health concern associated with cardiovascular risk factors. In 2019 the World Obesity Federation predicted that in 2025, 206 million children and adolescents aged 5 to 19 will be obese, and the number is estimated to reach 254 million by 2030. There is limited literature on the factors that are associated with the development of central obesity in children.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: The WHO and UNICEF recommend that only breastmilk, vitamin drops, oral rehydration solution, and prescribed medicine can go through the infant's mouth. Non-prescribed medications (NPM) include over-the-counter medications and traditional medicine and are contraindicated during infancy. Furthermore, the updated exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) indicator details that herbal fluids and similar traditional medicines are counted as fluids, and infants who consume these are not exclusively breastfed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Globally, teenage pregnancy is among the most social problems, affecting 21 million adolescents aged 15-19. Due to the increased responsibility of prenatal and postnatal care for their infants without support, pregnant and parenting teenagers, tend to experience mental health problems. Factors contributing to these problems among pregnant and parenting teenagers in rural African settings have hardly received scholarly attention and, therefore, are less understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) for six months, with the introduction of appropriate complementary feeding thereafter, and breastfeeding continuing for up to 2 years and beyond, is highly recommended. This could save the lives of up to 1.4 million children each year worldwide.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) often present with comorbidities such as hypertension, dyslipidaemia, insulin resistance, obesity and hyperglycaemia, which increases their risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs)-related mortality. Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT), a biomarker for subclinical atherosclerosis, has been associated with overall CVD, especially in type 2 DM (T2DM). Hence, this protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis aims to review existing literature on the association of CIMT and dyslipidaemia in patients with T2DM.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Worldwide, it is estimated that 38 million people are HIV-positive and that over 36 million people have died from the virus. In South Africa, the prevalence of HIV was reported to be 20.6% with Limpopo Province having 17% HIV.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTeenage pregnancy and parenting pose a greater risk of developing mental health problems among pregnant and parenting adolescent girls and young women. We report on a scoping review of peer-reviewed articles to identify mental health needs and challenges among pregnant and parenting adolescent girls and young women. We adopted only five steps of the Arksey and O'Malley framework to facilitate the scoping review of 125 articles published between July 2002 and August 2022 from these databases (MEDLINE, SABINET, EBSCOhost, Science Direct) using search syntax.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The increasing prevalence of substance abuse in rural areas of Limpopo Province is a concern for most stakeholders including the families, South Africa Police Service, and social workers. Combating Substance Abuse requires the active roles of various stakeholders in the rural community, due to limited resources for prevention, treatment, and recovery.
Purpose: To report on the roles of stakeholders in tackling Substance Abuse during the awareness campaign conducted in the deep rural community of Limpopo Province, DIMAMO surveillance area.